There are 53.2 metal bands per 100,000 inhabitants in Sweden putting Sweden at the top.

Sweden has most heavy metal bands per 100,000 inhabitants. According to Metal-archives.com, it’s Scandinavia in general and Sweden in particular that has the most heavy metal bands in the world. According to their study there are 53.2 metal bands per 100,000 inhabitants in Sweden. Joacim Cans, singer in the metal band HammerFall, is not surprised. He points at death metal (death metal is an extreme subgenre of heave metal music) and its so-called “Gothenburg sound” as a possible explanation.

“After Europe (the band, famous for the one hit "The Final Countdown") came the more brutal death metal, and a special version took shape in Sweden and Göteborg. The melodic Göteborg style has become a sound copied throughout the entire world. We have an extremely good reputation abroad. Swedish bands know how to play their instruments and always have strong melodies,” he says. Cans believes that bands such as In Flames and Opeth have inspired younger generations of metal musicians to create their own bands. “When a music style becomes world leading, then young people listen and want to do the same thing themselves. It reverberates.” Cans also believes that the prerequisites for musicians and bands are especially good in Sweden. “In the US it’s very expensive to rent a rehearsal studio. In Sweden we have the municipal school of music, where you can learn to play an instrument at no cost at all.”
Don't know what we're talking about? Here's a sample on youtube, Hammerfall's hit "Always will be" (One of the more melodic examples)

Metal bands, like HammerFall above, are flourishing in Sweden. HammerFall’s lead singer Joacim Cans believes it has to do with many factors: Such as the birth of the world leading “Gothenburg sound”, and the municipal music schools.